EXCLUSIVE: Police scour 'land and water' for missing woman

by cmorton

Clair Morton
Journalist
Although I’ve moved around a bit, I’m a Queensland girl at heart with a love of the ocean and the mighty maroons. Since moving to Grafton earlier this year I have fallen in love with the Valley lifestyle. The best part of my job here is getting to know the locals and putting their stories on paper; there is always something going on and so many people with interesting tales to tell.

STRIKE Force Burrow detectives are preparing to undergo a significant land and water search west of Lawrence in their hunt for missing Grafton woman Sharon Edwards.

The search is expected to focus on dams in the area and is likely to involve police divers, officers from the Coffs/Clarence region and operational support group officers.

It is not the first time the sparsely populated area has been the subject of police searches looking for answers into the disappearance and suspected murder of Mrs Edwards - last month police divers scoured a dam bounded by Ryries Rd and Summerland Way over a number of hours.

While nothing was found, Coffs/Clarence crime manager Detective Inspector Darren Jameson said last month he could not rule out further searches.

He added at the time that the area had been of significant interest to detectives attached to Strike Force Burrow for some time.

Ms Edwards disappeared from her Grafton home on March 14 last year, and has not made contact with anyone since.

Sharon Edwards: Still no trace one year since her disappearance:
Sharon Edwards was last seen on the evening of March 14, 2015. One year on, there is still no trace as to her whereabouts.

Her bank account has not been accessed and her handbag, mobile telephone and keys are still yet to be located, but forensic analysis of mobile phone data has shown her phone migrated to the Lawrence area in the early hours of March 15, where it continued to emit a signal for a number of hours.

Mrs Edwards and her estranged husband John, who has been named as a suspect, owned a house in the village of Lawrence and a rural bushland property on Tanglewood Rd, north-west of Lawrence.

Anyone with information that may be of use can phone Grafton detectives on 6642 0222 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000